Rubber chemicals such as accelerators, antioxidants, antiozonants, vulcanizing agents, and fungicides are sometimes sold in rodform. It is quite frequently much more convenient to utilize rubber chemicals which are bound into rods than it is to work with such chemicals in the form of powders. Chemicals which are in powder form are often difficult to handle due to problems with dusting. Many problems associated with handling and working with rubber chemicals can be eliminated by binding the chemical agent with a polymeric binder. Thus, chemical agents can be bound into a desirable form by utilizing a polymeric binder.
Bound rubber chemical compositions can be formed into a variety of desirable shapes. Most commonly bound rubber chemical compositions are extruded into rod-like shapes or pellets. Rods and pellets of this type which are composed primarily of a rubber chemical which is bound in a polymeric binder are then generally easier to handle than the rubber chemical in powder form. However, it is important for such bound rubber chemical compositions to have and maintain a number of important properties. They must be resistant to massing together even while under considerable pressure. It is also important for such bound rubber chemical compositions to be of low tack and to avoid cohesion in order to be free flowing. This is of utmost importance in operations where automatic weighing is utilized. It is also important for such bound chemical compositions to be resistant to crumbling and dusting into fines. In other words, it is undesirable for chemical agents which are bound into rodform to crumble and dust into a powder and it is also undesirable for them to stick together forming a mass.
Frequently rubber chemicals which are bound in rodform are sold in metal drums and cans in order to protect their structural integrity. In other words, the drum or can in which the rods are packaged protect them from being crushed into a powder or massed together. Such bound rubber chemicals are normally not sold in flexible bags because of their susceptibility to being crushed and massing together. This tendency of the individual rods to mass together or to be crushed is even more likely if they are packaged in flexible bags which are stacked on top of each other. There are many advantages, economic and otherwise, to packaging such bound rubber chemicals in sacks or bags in lieu of rigid drums and cans.